Star Light, Star Bright
by Backstage
Summary: ALL DONE, GUYS! My first fic... please review! Jack's known Diamond since he was twelve. After six (and-a-half!) years, she thinks that she may have outgrown being a newsie. But Jack is sure to change her mind.
1. Meet Diamond Murphy

*DISCLAIMER* (Pretty important stuff... please read.) With the exception of Caroline "Diamond" Murphy, all of the characters in this story are the property of the Walt Disney Company. Yeah. That about covers it.  
  
PART ONE- WINTER OF 1893, NEW YORK CITY  
  
Even for a bitterly chilly winter's day, the streets of Manhattan were alive and noisy with activity. It looked and sounded like every child in New York was engaged in a snowball war. Every child, that is, but young Jack Kelly.  
  
He looked longingly at the fun that the others were having, pelting one another with hard-packed snowballs. Instead of joining them, Jack merely adjusted the oversized red bandanna around his neck and shifted his stack of newspapers from one small shoulder to the other, continuing along the streets in a brisk gait. His too-big black cowboy hat bounced along on his back, secured by a rawhide cord around his boyish neck. Unlike the children around him, Jack Kelly had a job to do. He had to sell his papes.  
  
As the young boy scanned the snow-covered streets in search of another prospective customer, he heard a distinct sound. Jack's ears detected the sad sound of crying. Where was it coming from? He curiously followed the crying to its source: a small, shivering figure huddled in a nearby alleyway. A little girl.  
  
Jack curiously approached the girl. "Whatsa matter?"  
  
The girl's head snapped up. "Go away," she murmured, glaring at him through tear-stained eyes. "Leave me alone."  
  
"Whatever you say." Jack turned around and prepared to leave.  
  
She noticed this mysterious boy's cowboy hat and bandanna. "Are you... a real cowboy?" she inquired, sniffling. She'd never met a real cowboy before.  
  
Jack immediately turned around. Nobody had ever called him a real cowboy before. It sure did feel good. He confidently set the oversized black hat on his head.  
  
"Not yet," he admitted. "But I'm gonna be real soon. Just as soon as my folks find a place in Santa Fe." It was the story he told everyone he met.  
  
For a moment, the girl forgot about crying. "Santa Fe..." She liked the way it sounded. So full of mystery and excitement.  
  
Jack asked his original question once more: "So, whatsa matter? Why're you crying?"  
  
She sniffled, bringing on a fresh wave of tears. "My mommy jus' died this mornin'..."  
  
"Sorry to hear that." Jack sat on the cobblestone next to her.  
  
"I'm running away," she added, sticking out her chin determinedly.  
  
"Ain't you got no fam'ly here?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"What's your name, kid?" he asked after a pause.  
  
"Caroline... Caroline Elizabeth Murphy," she recited, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"I'se Jack Kelly. But my friends call me Cowboy." He spat in his hand and offered it to her, nodding for her to do the same. Caroline reluctantly put a tiny dab of spit into her palm and shook hands with her new friend.  
  
"How old are ya, Caroline 'Lizabeth Murphy?" he asked.  
  
"Ten..." she said regretfully. "But I'm gonna be eleven in a few weeks," she added in a rush. Being ten was so babyish.  
  
"Just turned twelve," Jack replied proudly. "So... you need a place to stay or what?"  
  
"Guess so."  
  
"Want a job?"  
  
She shrugged.  
  
"How'd you like to sell papes?" he offered. Jack indicated the stack he carried. "We got a lodging house just down the block. Ev'rybody's real nice."  
  
"Are there girls there?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Well, it's just us boys right now," he answered truthfully. When her face fell, he added, "Hey, how 'bout I act as a sorta big brother to ya? I'll keep an eye out for you an' all that. Whaddya say, huh?"  
  
A smile curled a corner of Caroline's mouth. "Okay."  
  
*******************************************************  
  
The sound of jaws dropping echoed throughout the newsies' lodging house as Cowboy meandered through the stares from the newsies. Caroline dodged awkward glances and instinctly followed her new big brother. Three boys about Jack's age set down their cards at the makeshift poker table, gawking at this new girl in their lodging house.  
  
"Whazzat?" A boy about Caroline's age drew a cigar from his mouth and scratched his dark, curly head of hair pensively.  
  
"Yeah; whatcha got here, Jacky-boy?" Another member of the table extended his ornate cane in Caroline's direction.  
  
"Heya, Spot." Jack must have known him. "How goes things in Brooklyn?"  
  
"The same. But you didn't answer my question." For a younger boy, this Spot certainly had a menacing demeanor.  
  
"This here's Caroline," Jack replied. "She wants to be a newsie."  
  
Caroline nodded silently in agreement. But what was a newsie? Whatever it was, she imagined she'd find out soon.  
  
The boy called Spot analyzed Caroline with his electric-blue eyes. "Caroline?" he scoffed. "That ain't no name for a newsie. You needs a new name."  
  
"How do I do that?" she wondered aloud.  
  
Cowboy placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ah, we'll worry 'bout it later, kid. How 'bout I introduce you to the fellas?"  
  
Caroline remained quiet as Cowboy began with the three poker players nearby:  
  
"This here's Racetrack Higgins," he began, indicating the dark-haired cigar smoker, who nodded cordially to the newcomer. "You sorta know Spot Conlon; he's from Brooklyn... and over there's Kid Blink, on account of he's got an eyepatch."  
  
Kid Blink, a year or so older than Cowboy, nodded genuinely to Caroline. The eye that wasn't concealed by an eyepatch had a smile in it.  
  
Caroline managed a smile as well. Everything was going to be all right; she was certain of it.  
  
Later that evening, young Jack went up to the rooftop just like he did every night. It was a place he could always go to think-- to dream about life in Santa Fe. His very own isolated place. So, naturally, he was startled to find little Caroline looking dazedly at the night sky when he arrived. He heard her whisper in a soft voice:  
  
"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight." She fervently closed her eyes and searched her mind for a good wish.  
  
"Whatcha doing up here?" Cowboy asked her.  
  
She appeared a little startled. "Oh, I'm sorry..."  
  
He shrugged indifferently. "'S okay." He leaned over on the wall next to her. "What was that? What you just did."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The... poem. Or whatever-it-was," he rushed.  
  
"Oh. I was wishing on a star. See, that bright, pretty one?" She indicated the North Star. "When you see a star, you're supposed to go, 'Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.' And then you make a wish." She grinned shyly.  
  
"Does it work?" he asked skeptically.  
  
She shrugged her little shoulders. "I dunno. Maybe. The angels give out the wishes. Mommy-- Mommy used to say that." She sniffled, remembering her mother.  
  
"Then, I think..." Cowboy said, choosing his words carefully, "that your momma's probably one of them angels granting wishes now."  
  
Caroline's eyes twinkled hopefully. She'd never thought of that. "My mommy's... an angel?"  
  
Jack nodded ardently in reply. "And she's prob'ly watching down on you from that same star."  
  
"Wish I was an angel, too..." she said wistfully.  
  
"Maybe someday you will."  
  
************************************************  
  
Little Caroline Murphy began to fit in immediately. She quickly became one of the fastest sellers at the Manhattan lodging house and earned respect among the boys.  
  
"Hey," Cowboy asked her once when a group of them was selling together, "what's that thing 'round your neck?"  
  
She reached under her baggy shirt and pulled out a fancy ring on a silver chain. "It's a ring that belonged to Mommy... My fingers are too little to wear it, so it's on a chain so it won't get lost. It's got a real diamond on it... see?"  
  
His young hazel eyes lit up excitedly. "Diamond Murphy!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your nickname! Diamond... it's perfect!"  
  
The other boys murmured in agreement. It was a good idea for a nickname.  
  
Caroline smiled. Diamond. Beautiful. She hadn't been a newsie for a full week and she already had a nickname.  
  
*** NEARLY FIVE YEARS LATER... AUTUMN 1898 ***  
  
Diamond Murphy looked around critically at the newsies. She'd never seen so many sad faces before.  
  
"Where's Spot?" she asked her best friend, Cowboy. "Thought he'd wanna see me off an' all."  
  
"Still in Brooklyn," he answered, feeling a lump form in his throat.  
  
"Ya can't leave us, Diamond," Blink protested. "We love you."  
  
She swallowed, fighting back tears. "This ain't easy for me neither. But Grandma... she needs me," she insisted, referring to her ailing grandmother in Richmond, Virginia, the whole reason why Diamond had to leave the only family she'd had for five years.  
  
Cowboy took a step forward. "I don't care how nice Richmond is," he said with a smirk in his voice. "Don't forget us over here."  
  
Diamond shook her head, determined. "Never," she insisted, feeling tears sting the back of her eyes. She refused to let them fall. Jack hadn't seen her cry since they first met years ago. Even so, twin tears inevitably stained her pale cheeks.  
  
"What's this?" Racetrack remarked. "Hard-as-nails Diamond Murphy sheddin' a tear? I don't believe it."  
  
She punched him good-naturedly. "Ah, shut up... Boy, am I gonna miss you guys."  
  
A shrill train whistle erupted throughout Grand Central Station.  
  
"Hear that?" said Jack. "That means you gotta go." He pulled his best friend into a tight bear hug. "Be good, Diamond. Understand?"  
  
She nodded. "Understood... g'bye, everyone."  
  
"G'bye, Diamond" communally filled the air as a conductor whisked her into the train car bound for Virginia. The newsies whooped, cheered, and yelled until the train slowly chugged out of sight. Then, with heavy, empty hearts, they trudged to the distribution center to get to work. Just because everyone's best friend was gone didn't mean there wasn't a living that needed to be made.  
  
**********************************************  
  
YAY! You guys actually love this stuff (go figure!), so I've put up more!! Go check it out!  
  
Lots of Love,  
  
Backstage 


	2. Back to Manhattan

*DISCLAIMER* (Pretty important stuff... please read.) With the exception of Caroline "Diamond" Murphy, all of the characters in this story are the property of the Walt Disney Company. Yeah. That about covers it.  
  
Yay, yay, yay! Enjoy Part Two, requested by popular demand!  
  
PART TWO- EARLY SPRING, 1900  
  
"Lord in Heaven above, I reckon I ain't never gonna understand you, Caroline Elizabeth Murphy." Aunt Emma shook her head at her niece. "You mean to tell me that you're goin' back to those ruffians?"  
  
"Grandma said it was okay," Diamond insisted.  
  
Diamond had spent well over a year in Virginia at that time, almost a year and-a-half. Just two weeks earlier, Diamond's maternal grandmother passed away. She rembembered distinctly the last words Grandma said to her:  
  
"Caroline, honey," Grandma had said, "I heard they're gonna make you stay after all is said an' done, but I gotta feelin' you don't want to do that."  
  
"I'd really like to be with my friends in New York," Diamond had admitted.  
  
Grandma smiled warmly but weakly at her grandaughter. "Darlin', if there ain't nothin' I've learned from eighty-nine years on God's green earth, it's this: Listen good an' hard to what your heart tells you to do, baby-doll. You'd best get to New York."  
  
Diamond quoted these words to Aunt Emma, who smiled tearfully.  
  
"Very well," she conceded. "I suppose Mama would have wanted it that way."  
  
With a quick goodbye to her stuffy but nonetheless caring aunt, Diamond boarded the crowded train. Her heart raced to know that she would soon be with her very best friends after a year and six months. Diamond just hoped that they hadn't forgotten about her.  
  
Diamond caught her reflection in the train window. If they hadn't forgotten about her, they certainly wouldn't recognize her. During her time in Richmond, Diamond was commanded by her Southernly refined extended family to dress and act as they deemed appropriate. She had exchanged her baggy, dingy, but altogether comfortable boy's clothing for form-fitting blouses and elegant, lacy skirts. Her hair, which had previously run amok under her cap, was now tightly pinned to the top of her head.  
  
If there was anything else it was that Diamond was an adult now at seventeen. Her family in Virginia reminded her every day, it seemed: "You're a bona fide woman, Caroline Elizabeth. It's high time you set aside childish things and thought on more grown-up matters."  
  
Diamond looked sort of regretfully at the landscape out the window. It made her sad, thinking that she couldn't be a girl anymore and enjoy the things she once had. But she was seventeen-- a grown-up. It was time to move on.  
  
Wasn't it?  
  
****************************************************  
  
Diamond never thought she'd remember her way around New York. Nevertheless, as she strolled out of Grand Central Station, everything came back to her-- every alleyway and street corner. Being a newsie for five years really taught a person that.  
  
Although she recollected everything about Manhattan's infrastructure, her heart sank when she found none of her old friends. Not even her best friend, Jack Kelly. Diamond had always been able to locate her best friend, if anyone else, but she turned up empty-handed.  
  
Disappoined and disheartened, Diamond failed to watch where she was going as she sharply rounded a corner, plowing right into someone.  
  
The "someone," a boy, reeled back and regained his gold-tipped cane that he'd dropped in the collision. He locked eyes with Diamond, raising his hat, as was expected in the presence of a lady... but not Diamond.  
  
"My utmost humble 'pologies, miss," he said to her.  
  
Diamond recognized him right away. "No trouble... Spot." She added his name with a knowing smirk.  
  
Spot Conlon immediately froze, turning to face her. "You talkin' to me?" he asked, puzzled.  
  
"Is there any other Spot Conlon? I thought there was the one and only."  
  
He was still confused. "Yeah... I'se the one an' only, all right." He squinted at her, smirking flirtatiously. "So how'd such an angel as yerself hear 'bout the notorious Spot Conlon?"  
  
Diamond was taken aback, and for more reasons than one. To begin with, she and Spot were always like brother and sister. The mere thought of him hitting on her made her laugh. She was also quite hurt that he hadn't recognized her.  
  
"Since when do ya make passes at yer sister?" she chirped, regaining her old, bawdy New York accent. "It's me... Diamond! Don'tcha recognize me, Spot?"  
  
Spot's eyes were now the size of his prized marble shooters. "Diamond?" he hissed in disbelief. "That can't be you..."  
  
To prove it, Diamond displayed her trademark diamond ring on the chain around her neck. No matter how frilly her new clothes were, she never took it off. She'd never, ever remove something that was once her mother's.  
  
"Is this proof enough for you, Spot?" she challenged him. Many newsies were scared of Spot Conlon, but Diamond had always stood up to him. It was for that reason that they were good friends. They'd been a dynamic trio: Spot, Diamond, and Cowboy, of course.  
  
A grin crossed his face as it sank in. "Well, well... never thought I'd live to see this." He indicated her fancy dress.  
  
"You got... taller," she shot back at him. "Sure is 'bout time!"  
  
He scoffed, pulling his "sister" into a hug. "Normally, I soak punks who say that to me." They pulled apart. "You sure changed."  
  
"I'm an adult now, Spot." She shrugged. "I had to grow up." She paused, trying to change the subject. "So, where is everyone?"  
  
"Don'tcha 'member, Diamond? It's Sunday," he reminded her. "All the boys are holed up at the lodgin' house." He jerked a thumb in the direction of Duane Street. "That's why I'se down here. Jus' got done payin' a visit. Boy, bet Jacky-boy'll be glad to see you again. He's been through a lot, 'specially past week or so."  
  
"What happened? Nothin' serious, was it?"  
  
He waved a hand. "Nah, nothin' like that. But his girl jus' broke it off with him. She started hangin' all over some hoity-toity scabber from Long Island." Spot heaved a sympathetic sigh. "Jacky's real torn up about it."  
  
"Well," Diamond said after a pause, "I should head over there."  
  
"Remember how to get there?" he teased.  
  
She smirked, turning on her heel. "Yes, Spot. I do, thank-you-very-much."  
  
"See ya 'round!" he called after her as she progressed down Duane Street.  
  
The Newsboys' Lodging House hadn't changed at all, much to Diamond's happiness. Before she even entered, she heard the bawdy noise of newsies chatting and yellin with each other. Once she pressed the door open, she saw Kloppman's familiar, grandfatherly face at the front desk. Not recognizing her either, he straightened himself up when she approached him.  
  
"What can I do fer ya, miss?"  
  
"Kloppman..." she pressed, "it's just ol' Diamond!"  
  
He laughed. "We-ll! Wouldja look at you, honey! All dressed nice... the fellas ain't gonna stand for that, y'know."  
  
"Are they upstairs?" she asked eagerly.  
  
"Ain't they always?" He shooed her upstairs. "Go on, now!"  
  
Diamond meandered through the bunks and dirty clothes, feeling much like she had when she'd first arrived at the lodging house over six years ago. Not a single one of them realized that the nicely dressed young woman that walked around was Diamond Murphy. It just couldn't have been. Diamond Murphy never wore a skirt in her whole life. They all gawked at her.  
  
"I'll see yer five cents, an' raise ya five!"  
  
"You sure you wanna do that, Race?"  
  
"Cowboy, ain't no way you could beat this hand! Read 'em and weep!"  
  
Diamond navigated through the bunkroom and found Racetrack, Kid Blink, Mush, Skittery, and Cowboy congregated around the poker table. When she approached them, everyone's mouths hung open except Cowboy, who didn't notice she was there since he was seated with his back facing her. They collectively cleared their throats nervously.  
  
Racetrack immediately whipped off his hat. "Anythin' we can do fer ya, doll-face?" He set his cards down.  
  
Diamond wrinkled her nose. "Doll-face?" she repeated back to him. "Actually, I'm lookin' for a certain Jack Kelly."  
  
"Jack!" Mush hissed, elbowing Cowboy in the ribs. "Somebody ta see ya..."  
  
It didn't take him a split second to realize that the well-dressed, pedigreed lady was none other than his best friend, Diamond. No matter how different she looked, Cowboy knew his "kid sister" in an instant. He stood up, nearly knocking over the chair.  
  
"Diamond?" he asked with a skeptical smile. "Is my buddy in there?"  
  
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! Someone who knows it's me!"  
  
With a laugh, Jack pulled his best friend into a bear hug. They pulled apart and got a good look at each other for the first time in a year and-a-half. Diamond knew that she'd changed a great deal in that time, but Jack had, too. He now towered over her probably five or six inches now. His shoulders had widened a little, his chin a bit more pronounced. But that boyish glint in his eye hadn't left since he was twelve.  
  
"I didn't even know you was even comin' back!" he exclaimed, still in shock.  
  
She nodded. "I'm back for good now." She paused. "You didn't give away my bunk yet, did you?" she added with a smile.  
  
"Are you kiddin'?" he answered, not being able to keep the grin off of his face. "Look at my li'l sis... dressed up like a princess!" he remarked.  
  
"I got it all in Richmond," she replied. "But apparently no one knows it's me under all this lace!"  
  
Cowboy got a good look at Diamond's fancy attire. From her tightly pinnned hairstyle to her white ruffled blouse to her tapestry skirt to her fancy button-down boots, she sure had changed. Diamond looked nothing like the little, sniffling girl he found six years ago. She looked like a real lady of privilege. But somehow, Jack didn't like this change. He missed the carefree-dressing Diamond, where the only elegant thing she wore was her mother's ring around her neck.  
  
"No best pal of mine ever wore her hair up an' all that," he said sort of sadly. "Where is Diamond Murphy, huh?"  
  
"I grew up, Cowboy," she insisted. Why was it that everyone had a hard time understanding this? She was seventeen now. Why wouldn't she be grown up?  
  
"Yeah," he said with a regretful smile, "guess ya did. You, ah... you need any help settling in?"  
  
She shook her head, dumping her bags on her old bunk. "No thanks, I'll just pull things out of my bags when I need them, I guess." Diamond pulled out a lacy white nightgown. "Now, if you fellas will excuse me, I'd better get to the washroom and change."  
  
****************************************************  
  
By the time Diamond had fully changed out of her previous outfit and into her nightgown, brushed her hair out, and washed her face and neck, the boys had already settled into their bunks and had fallen asleep. She was about to retreat to bed herself, but before she did, she bypassed the door leading to the roof. It almost beckoned her to come back to the rooftop that she'd been absent from for so long. Taking special precaution not to wake everyone, Diamond pressed the door open and tiptoed up the stairs to the roof. The night sky was very cloudy, leaving almost no visible stars or moon.  
  
She was startled to hear a voice in the darkness:  
  
"Star light, star bright, first star I see t'night: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish t'night."  
  
"Cowboy?" she hissed.  
  
Apparently, Jack was as surprised to see her as she was to see him. "Diamond! What're you doin' up here?"  
  
"I always came up here," she answered. "Remember? We spent a lot of time talking on this rooftop... and making wishes." She gave him a knowing glance. "I heard you say the poem."  
  
He looked embarrassed. "Yeah-- well--"  
  
"You still come up here, then?"  
  
"Yeah, ev'ry night," he replied. He paused, turning to face her. "I sure did miss you while you was away."  
  
"What have you been up to all this time?"  
  
Cowboy then told his best friend all about the newsies' strike that had taken place only a few months earlier. He told her about the unfair price jack-up, how he led the crusade, and how they eventually bounced back. He even told her about the time he spent in the refuge but managed an escape. {*A/N: Yay for short summaries of the movie!*}  
  
"We sure coulda used you then," he continued. "Diamond Murphy never took nothin' offa no scabbers."  
  
She smiled. "Leading a strike, Cowboy? It must have made you pretty famous."  
  
He shrugged. "Not really."  
  
"Spot told me about that girl," she hinted, unsure as to what Jack's reaction would be. He never did like to talk about relationship problems with her or anyone else.  
  
She was surprised to only see him heave a sad sigh. "Yeah... Sarah. Well, I'm glad Spot told you 'stead of me." He paused. "I didn't really wanna talk 'bout it."  
  
"I'm really sorry though, Cowboy."  
  
"'S all right. Ain't your fault."  
  
In the dark, cloudy distance, a brilliant flash of lightning struck down, followed a few seconds later by a loud clap of thunder.  
  
A gasp escaped from Diamond's throat. "Well, maybe I oughta turn in before it storms..." She began to edge out the door.  
  
Jack smirked at her. "You was always scared of thunderstorms," he teased. "Looks like some t'ings don't change."  
  
"I'm not scared," she said defensively. She foiled herself when another roll of thunder made her shriek.  
  
Jack had to laugh. "Whatever you say. Let's get inside, huh?"  
  
The two of them were successful in not waking up everyone as they climbed into the the two vacant top bunks that were side-by-side.  
  
"Hey," Cowboy said quietly as he pulled the ratty blanket over him, "do ya remember what you did when there was thunder an' lightning like this a long time ago?"  
  
Nothing came to her mind. "No; what happened?"  
  
"You was real little," he continued, "still ten. It was your second or third night at the lodgin' house-- can't remember which. So anyhow, there was this really bad storm-- kinda like this one-- and you were whimperin' like a puppy--"  
  
A sudden, loud thunder clap sent Diamond in retreat under her sheets.  
  
"Yeah, a lot like that," he said with a grin. "Well, so you got so scared that you bounced in the bunk with me, and ya fell asleep right away." He smiled at her sleepily. There was an awkward silence.  
  
Diamond felt her cheeks burn. "I'm too old for that, now," she reminded him, as well as herself, it seemed. She poked her head out from under the blankets.  
  
Jack propped himself up on his elbow. "Hey, y'know how I jus' told ya 'bout the strike?"  
  
"Uh-huh?"  
  
"Guess who gave me a ride in his carriage right after."  
  
"I don't know..." She then added sarcastically, "Teddy Roosevelt."  
  
Jack said nothing, just gave her a knowing glance, raising his eyebrows.  
  
Diamond scoffed, rolling over on her back. "Is that another one of your 'improving-the-truth' gags, Cowboy? You nearly had me for a second."  
  
Cowboy looked directly at her-- something he never did when he lied. "He did, Diamond. I swear." He crossed his heart. "I ain't never lied to my best friend, and I ain't plannin' on startin' now."  
  
She rolled back on her side. "Teddy Roosevelt gave you a ride in his carriage?" she asked, still skeptical. "Why?"  
  
"Well, after we beat Joe Pulitzer an' the rest a those bums, he got word of it," he answered. "Yeah, he was real proud of me for standin' up for our rights an' all that. So he offered to send me to Santa Fe."  
  
Her eyes widened. "Santa Fe?" If she remembered nothing else about Jack, it was that he'd always wanted to go there. "Cowboy, that's amazing! But wait... why are you still here?"  
  
"I still got things to do here," he answered. "Maybe I'll go someday." He paused. "Y'know, I really missed havin' you around. 'Specially during the strike an' all. Like I says before, we coulda really used your help. All us boys missed you, Diamond."  
  
"It's good to be missed," she admitted, now practically ignoring the raging storm outside. "Things have changed so much..."  
  
"Hmm," Cowboy murmured sleepily, shoving the pillow under his head.  
  
"I've changed so much," she continued. "I mean, I came to Richmond wearing boys' pants an' suspenders an' shirt... Aunt Emma didn't stand for it. 'No daughter of Elizabeth Ann Murphy carries on like she were her son instead!' she told me. Sure, I saved my old clothes-- I hid 'em, but I saved 'em all the same. But all anyone said to me was that it was high time I grew up and put all of that aside. I hated the idea at first, but now I think I'm starting to believe them. What do you think, Cowboy?... Jack?"  
  
All Diamond got in reply was light snoring from Jack's bunk, where he lay curled up and fast asleep. She sighed in exasperation. Cowboy was always prone to falling asleep in the middle of their late-night conversations. Following suit, Diamond hugged her pillow tightly and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep.  
  
"G'night, Jack. See you in the morning." 


	3. Back to Work!

Thanks to everyone that's been reviewing this story. I really, really appreciate it! I didn't even know it was all that good to begin with. But you seem to like it! So thanks. Keep those reviews a-comin'! I have minimal self-confidence, so any kind word will be super!  
  
And now we move on to Part Three, "which is a smashing scene with some lovely acting..." -Monty Python and the Holy Grail  
  
***PART THREE***  
  
At the ungodly hour of six a.m. the next morning, Diamond was in no way prepared to resume her job as a newsie. All she wanted to do was sleep. Kloppman, however, bonked her with the end of his broomstick, just like he used to do when she was ten.  
  
"Ain't gonna cut ya no slack, Diamond," the old man said to her. "Get on up! The presses are rollin'!"  
  
Diamond growled and swung at him tiredly as he moved across the bunkroom, waking up the rest of the newsies. She rolled over and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Before she was completely awake, she heard Cowboy:  
  
"Wakey-wakey, Diamond!" He punched her good-naturedly on the shoulder. "C'mon, carry the banner! Let's go!"  
  
She yawned. "Wanna go back to bed..."  
  
He threw a pile of clothes at her. "Here."  
  
"What--what is all this stuff?" Diamond examined the clothes.  
  
"Well, I don't think you'd wanna sell papes in those frills ya wore yesterday," he answered. "I found some a your old clothes. 'Sides," he added, "bein' a newsie's hard work. You know that. Wouldn't want ya gettin' all your pretty new things dirty." He cracked a smile. "C'mon..." he coaxed, waving the bundle tantalizingly. It was that original Jack Kelly charm. It never really worked on Diamond, but she was too tired to argue.  
  
"All right," she finally conceded. She snatched up the ragged clothes and hopped off the bunk, marching into a vacant washroom stall to change.  
  
"So THERE's Diamond Murphy!" Racetrack remarked as she came back out moments later, decked out from head to toe in her old newsie garb. "I wondered what happened to 'er!"  
  
The old Diamond began to come through. She shot Race a Look. "What's it to ya, Race? Shove over; I gotta use the mirror."  
  
Racetrack obediently moved aside, and Diamond got a good look at her reflection. She was surprised to see that her old clothes still fit her. Diamond's brown pants were secured with dust-glazed green suspenders, strapped over a formerly white (but now dirty and worn) shirt with long sleeves that she rolled up to her elbows. She tossed her tan cap on her head of now free-flowing longish brown hair. Sure, she was reluctant to admit it, but seeing her reflection made Diamond miss the good old days.  
  
She brushed past Jack to get to her old pair of boots. "C'mon, Cowboy... you can't hog up the whole walkway, y'know."  
  
He held up her boots. "Lookin' for these?"  
  
"Matter of fact, I am." She snatched them from him and laced them up. Diamond looked up at him. He stared at her with a funny expression on his face. "So what're ya lookin' at, Cowboy?" she growled at him, gaining her old mannerisms by the minute.  
  
"Jus' thinkin'--"  
  
She punched him playfully in the arm. "Well, don't think so much!" she teased.  
  
"Guess you ain't as grown-up as you think, huh?" he said, grinning.  
  
"Yeah... well, we'll see."  
  
He clapped her on the back. "Good to have you back, pal."  
  
She smiled. "Good to be back." She grabbed her shoulder bag. "Let's go carry the banner, Cowboy!"  
  
As a sunrise made pink streaks along the Manhattan skyline, the newsies marched semi-collectively to the distribution center down the block. They formed a line along the side of the building, as usual. Cowboy was first in line, as usual. He smiled teasingly at Weasel, who had recently regained his job with a stern warning from the police.  
  
"'Mornin', Mister Weasel," he chirped, thumbing through a copy of the day's paper casually, searching for a good headline to sell.  
  
"Take yer time, why don't ya?" Weasel grumbled.  
  
"Now, now, Weasel," he cautioned. "You won't get none of my business if you push me around." He slapped a fifty-cent piece on the counter. "The usual."  
  
"Hun'red papes!" Weasel called to the back.  
  
Jack took up his fat stack of papers. "Happy doin' business with ya, Weasel!"  
  
Diamond was next. She dug out a quarter and flipped it to Weasel. "Fifty papes."  
  
"'Ey," he said, squinting, "ain't you that Diamond kid?"  
  
She nodded proudly. "That's me."  
  
"Where have you been?"  
  
"I ain't here to chat, Weasel." She raised her eyebrows at him. "Now, do I get my fifty papes or what?"  
  
"Fifty papes for Little Miss Smart-Mouth!" Weasel growled to the back.  
  
Diamond smiled triumphantly. "Thanks, Weasel." She took her stack and strode away.  
  
Jack was waiting nearby, looking at the front page. "That's my girl!" he praised. "Taught ya everyt'ing ya know."  
  
"That was real fun," she admitted. "Kinda missed harassing Weasel all this time. So, any good headlines today?"  
  
He set the paper down. "Diamond, if I told ya once, I told ya a thousand times: Headlines don't sell papes--"  
  
"--NEWSIES sell papes." She recited with him. "Yeah, yeah, I know."  
  
"'Morning, Jack."  
  
An unfamiliar-looking newsie approached Cowboy. Diamond hadn't seen him before. He must have been new.  
  
Jack nodded to the new face. "Whaddya say, Davey?"  
  
A much younger boy joined them. "Cowboy!"  
  
Jack smiled, bending down to ruffle the little boy's hair. "Heya, Les." He turned to Diamond. "Diamond, this here is the Jacobs brothers: Davey, an' his little brother, Les."  
  
He watched his pal admiringly as she spat into her hand and offered it to Davey, who reluctantly did the same. Les, not wanting to feel left out, spat in his own little hand and presented it to Diamond, who shook it graciously.  
  
"Whaddya say, Davey and Les Jacobs?" she greeted them.  
  
Les was in awe. "I've never seen a girl newsie."  
  
She smiled at him. "Ain't no other girl newsies. Just me."  
  
"You're Diamond?" Davey asked. He turned to Jack. "Is this THE Diamond Murphy?"  
  
Cowboy grinned proudly. "This is her, all right."  
  
"What is this, Cowboy? You been talkin' about me behind my back?" Diamond teased.  
  
"Constantly!" Davey answered. "Didn't think we were really gonna meet you someday."  
  
"Didn't know I was really coming 'til a few days ago," she replied. "Wait a second. Davey Jacobs, right? Hey, Cowboy, ain't this your walkin' mouth?"  
  
Davey nodded. "That's me."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
"All right," Cowboy put his thick stack of papes over one shoulder. "If we're all done socializing, we got a livin' to make." He turned to Diamond. "Wanna sell together, like we used to?"  
  
"Naturally! Is there any other way to sell?"  
  
Jack, Diamond, Davey, and Les headed to Central Park from Duane Street, calling out headlines along the way.  
  
"Extry! Extry!" Diamond called, waving a paper. "Runaway carriage plows into marketplace in Queens! Thousands of dollars in damage!" An elderly woman handed her a penny. "Here's your pape, ma'am! Thanks!" She shoved the penny in her bag proudly. "First pape of the day!" she crowed.  
  
"Where that story?" Cowboy demanded.  
  
She flipped through a copy. "Page three." She showed it to him.  
  
"There really WAS a runaway carriage in Queens," Davey observed.  
  
"You see, Cowboy?" she said. "Sometimes you don't have to 'improve the truth.' There's plenty of good headlines right under your nose."  
  
"Guess I could give it a shot," he said. "Extry! Queens devastated by stampede of mad horses!" A couple passing by each purchased a paper. Jack tipped his cowboy hat to them. "Much obliged!" He admired the two shiny pennies in his hand. "Hey, that ain't so bad."  
  
"You're getting better," Diamond admitted. "But we still got papes to sell. Let's get a move on!"  
  
****************************************************  
  
The four of them had sold all of their papes by lunchtime. It looked like Central Park was a promising selling spot. They decided to stop by Tibby's to grab something to eat, since it was on the way back to the lodging house. The place was, as usual, crawling with newsies.  
  
"'Ey, Jacky-boy!" Spot, apparently on loan from Brooklyn, flagged everyone down. "We saved ya a few chairs!"  
  
"Whaddya know, Spot?" He took a seat across from him, sitting between Diamond and Kid Blink. "So, what're ya doin' in Manhattan?"  
  
He took a bite out of his roast beef. "Finished sellin' me papes early this mornin'. How's business this side a the bridge, Jacky-boy?"  
  
"Ain't bad," he replied.  
  
As soon as Jack put in his lunch order, he identified a familiar face across the room. It was Sarah, giggling and talking to her new boyfriend-- a university guy from Long Island. They were cuddled up side-by-side in a booth together. Suddenly, Jack felt sick to his stomach.  
  
Diamond looked at him critically. "Somethin' wrong, Cowboy?"  
  
He sighed. "Sarah's over there," he said quietly.  
  
Spot turned to get a good look. "Look at that... she's smoochin' all over that lousy, good-fer-nothin'-- well, no offense, Davey an' Les. I know she's your sister an' all."  
  
"None taken," Davey insisted. "Trust me, we were all much happier when Sarah was with Jack."  
  
"Then she left 'im for that bummer in a fancy jacket," Spot growled. "Y'know, if she wasn't a girl, I'd soak 'er." Despite Spot Conlon's tough-guy reputation, he only soaked other boys.  
  
"Don't make no difference to me," said Diamond. "I'LL soak her."  
  
Jack remained quiet.  
  
Kid Blink let out a doubting laugh. "Yeah, Diamond... you do that."  
  
"What? You think I can't?" She spoke loudly enough for everyone, including Sarah, to hear: "I'll soak anybody that hurts my big brother's feelings! Ain't that right, Cowboy?"  
  
"Sure, Diamond," he answered half-heartedly. "Whatever you say, pal." He stabbed at his lunch with his fork.  
  
She patted him on the back encouragingly. "Jus' eat some food, Cowboy. You'll feel much better when you've eaten."  
  
But Jack didn't touch his food at all. He tried to raise his spirits with a few glasses of sarsparilla, but even that didn't help. Every time he set down another glass, he'd see Sarah, and his heart sank. Over time, Jack had grown to accept the fact that he and Sarah weren't together anymore, but it tore his heart into pieces when he saw her laughing and carrying on with someone else. Of course Sarah was bound to meet new guys. Jack just didn't want to have to watch.  
  
Meanwhile, Diamond caught a glimpse of this Sarah Jacobs for the first time. She could, to some extent, see why this girl had taken her best friend's heart. Sarah had soft features and a smile that probably cast a spell on many guys. But if this Sarah, whoever she was, broke Cowboy's heart, she didn't deserve him.  
  
"Don't worry, Cowboy," she tried to console him. "She ain't worth your time."  
  
The rest of them murmured in agreement: "Yeah, Jack... don't worry 'bout it... she wasn't for you... Yeah."  
  
He smiled sadly. Jack knew that his friends were trying to make him feel better. "I'm over her," he insisted. "I really am. It's just a li'l hard to see her with that--"  
  
Spot tried to finish his sentence: "Punk? Bummer? Low-down dirty scab?"  
  
"Spot..." Diamond cautioned. "C'mon, calm down."  
  
"Well, maybe I can soak the guy she's with," Spot conspired to himself.  
  
"C'mon, Jack." Diamond paid the tab for her lunch and his. "It's on me today. Let's go."  
  
Typically, Jack would have debated the issue with Diamond, but this time he was glad she'd bailed him out. They continued on their way to Greely Square, where the two of them sat down in a bench.  
  
"You wanna talk about anything?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"I don't know..." he muttered, brushing the hair out of his face. "I ain't never seen Sarah that happy before, that's all. She was never that happy with me. I musta done something wrong."  
  
Diamond shook her head fervently. "No, no... if she wasn't happy, that's her fault, not yours. Cowboy, I've seen you court a lot of girls over the years, and you ain't never had the heart to break up with a single one of 'em on your own. You're a good fella to have around, Cowboy. The only reason your relationships work or don't work is because of them, not you." She paused, frustrated. "Geez Louise. I probably ain't makin' no sense..."  
  
"Even if you ain't makin' sense, it sure sounds like you are," he said to her, cracking a smile. "Y'know, it's time I really got over Sarah. Like ya said, she ain't worth my time."  
  
"If that's what you wanna do, by all means, go for it." She clapped him on the back. "Y'know, when I was still in Richmond, you know what my grandma said to me right before she died?"  
  
"No... what did she say?"  
  
"She told me that you gotta listen to what your heart tells you to do. That's the only way to know what's best for you." She smiled. "So, do what your heart tells ya."  
  
"Yeah," he said after a pause of reflection, "that's what I want. I gotta get over her."  
  
She placed a hand on his back. "Atta boy! If there's anything I can do for ya to help..."  
  
"I'll let ya know." He smiled.  
  
"Hey, what're best friends for, huh?"  
  
All RIGHT! Part Four is up and running! G'wan and check it out! 


	4. The Revelation

First off, before I get on with this, I'd like to extend a great big group hug (!) to the few of you that have actually reviewed my stuff! It means a lot to me, since we don't get any other kind of feedback... *cough*PLEASE review!*cough* And so, after a brief hiatus (because apparently Dakki's muse wasn't the ONLY one hiding from her author), I bring you "Star Light, Star Bright": Part Four. Enjoy!  
  
PART FOUR  
  
It was a month later. Diamond frustratedly strolled the streets in search of someone who'd buy her last twenty papes out of the fifty that she'd started with that morning. Jack, on the other hand, had started with twice that much (as he always had), and he'd sold all of his hours ago. Even so, he offered to help her out.  
  
"No thanks, Cowboy," she refused him as he attempted to take her stack of papes. "I don't need your help."  
  
He gave her back the twenty papes. "You sure?"  
  
"Yeah. I've always been able to sell all my papes before lunch... Business is jus' a li'l slow, that's all." She walked farther along. "I never needed your help before, Cowboy, an' I ain't plannin' on askin' for it now." It wasn't really harsh; it was the truth.  
  
Jack understood. Since Diamond had resumed her job as a newsie last month, he noticed she tried to do all she could to show him that she could handle it by herself. He couldn't blame her, at any rate.  
  
"Listen," she said half an hour later, twenty papes still under her arm, "You don't need to keep hangin' around. You're probably bored anyway. I'll get these papes sold an' I'll meet you at Tibby's. Whaddya say, huh?"  
  
He reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, sure, Diamond. Whatever you say, pal. See ya at Tibby's." He disappeared behind an alleyway.  
  
Diamond sighed with relief. Even though Jack was her best friend, he created a lot of pressure when she hadn't gotten her papes sold yet. He probably didn't mean to, but he always seemed to rub it in that he could sell twice as many papes as she could, and in half the time. She decided that, even if she only sold ten more, she'd quit and head over to Tibby's. Twenty was a lot of papers to be forced to eat, but she could probably sacrifice just ten.  
  
"Extry! Extry! Collision with trolley results in bloodbath! Hundreds lost!"  
  
Naturally, Diamond was only "improving" upon the actual headline about a swarm of bees hitting a trolley windshield. Even if she did have to twist the truth, not a single one of the many people passing her by took notice. Diamond huffed, exasperated. Her job had never been this difficult before. What was the matter with her, anyway? Was she losing her touch?  
  
A flock of girls about her age trotted past her on her way to Central Park. Unlike Diamond, these girls were noticeably beautiful. There were five of them, each wearing a different pastel-colored dress. It was nearly laughable the way they walked in synchronized fashion, right down to the swooshing of their bustles. They peered at Diamond condescendingly as she continued to pitch the headline.  
  
One of the girls, a vision in pale, minty green, stepped forward toward Diamond with a witty smirk. She opened her delicate matching bag and pulled out a shiny nickel.  
  
"I'll take five," she proclaimed in a syrupy, upper-crust voice. Not wanting to get her hands dirty by making direct physical contact with Diamond, the girl dropped the nickel into Diamond's ratty shoulder bag.  
  
Diamond thumbed through the papes and counted out five, handing them to the girl. "Thanks, miss. You have a good day." She nodded politely.  
  
As she strode away, a nickel richer, Diamond heard the pastel-dressed flock of girls erupt into a condescendingly melodious laughter. She tried to ignore them, but it was difficult. Diamond had never really been laughed at before like that. It was probably because she'd always sold with Jack. Those kinds of girls were always too busy trying to catch Jack's eye than making fun of Diamond. Even under the circumstances, she held her head high as she entered Central Park.  
  
"Extry! Hundreds perish in trolley collision! Read all about it!"  
  
Diamond was very much relieved to notice an elderly lady approach her. Older women were always so nice to her, pinching her cheeks and calling her "the most darling girl I've ever seen."  
  
"Afternoon, ma'am," Diamond greeted her. "Care to buy a pape today?"  
  
The woman slowly drew out a penny from her handbag. "Why, yes, I think I will." She pressed the penny into Diamond's eager, open hand.  
  
Diamond tipped her cap to the woman graciously. "Thanks very much, ma'am. Enjoy the park!"  
  
She smiled a nice, warm, grandmotherly smile. "Thank you very much, young man."  
  
Diamond maintained a smile as the old woman tottered away, but she was quite taken aback as those words played over in her head: "Thank you very much, young man." Young MAN. That's what she said. Maybe the old lady was without her glasses that day and she didn't know. But Diamond felt a twinge of insult regardless. Maybe she wasn't all that pretty, but Diamond was never mistaken for a boy. Not until then, anyway.  
  
She continued around the park. She still had fourteen papes to sell. On her way, she encountered an attractive man and a pretty woman perched on a bench under a shady tree. They were cuddled together with their arms around each other, whispering things into the other's ear and giggling. Diamond knew that such people in love didn't want to be bothered, so she didn't offer them a paper. She merely passed them by.  
  
Even so, that scene stuck with her. Diamond never did possess a delicate manner, and maybe she wasn't as pretty as those girls she'd met on her way to the park (she considered herself much nicer than them, at any rate). And maybe she was mistaken for a boy by that old lady, but it was only because she'd probably left her glasses at home. But amidst all these shortcomings, Diamond felt that she deserved something: She deserved to be loved, just like that couple snuggled up together on the bench.  
  
She was cared about, of course, by all of the newsies back on Duane Street. But it wasn't the same. Diamond knew that they loved her, but only as a group of brothers loves their sister. She wanted to be loved exclusively-- by just one boy. A boy that made a decision on his own to love her-- not just because he felt he HAD to. And somehow, Diamond knew that she couldn't find that sort of love with the other newsies. She just couldn't.  
  
So Diamond made a decision: she couldn't be a newsie anymore.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
The sun had freshly set back at Tibby's. Jack was waiting patiently for his best friend to come back. To pass the time, he poked at a plate of cole slaw, taking a bite every so often.  
  
"So where's Diamond at, anyway?" Race demanded, playing a quick round of poker with Blink and Skittery. "She's been gone for a long time."  
  
"She's jus' tryin' to sell the rest of her papes," he answered.  
  
Blink took up his cards. "Why didn't you go with 'er?"  
  
Jack shrugged. "She said that she didn't want my help. I gotta respect 'er feelin's, y'know. If she wanted my help, she woulda asked for it."  
  
The jingle of the bell on the door indicated Diamond's entrance. "Hey, fellas," she greeted half-heartedly, sitting with Jack and the others. The others went back to their previous activities.  
  
"Whatsa matter?" Jack asked her as she sat across from him, his voice quiet with worry. "You still got your papes," he observed.  
  
"Yeah," she said quietly, tossing her stack of unsold papes on the table. "Listen, Jack. I gotta talk to you."  
  
He winced. Diamond had always called him "Cowboy." Something must have been terribly wrong. "So what's wrong?" he asked tentatively.  
  
She lowered her voice. "Look. I don't wanna cause a scene or nothin', but I done some thinking all that time I was out sellin' by myself."  
  
He nedded numbly as she continued:  
  
"While I was out there, a lot of things happened to me," she said. "First, these real pretty girls start laughin' at me. Then, this li'l old lady calls me a 'young man,' and then there was this couple an'-- the point is, Jack, I don't think that I'm cut out for this no more."  
  
His eyes grew frantic. "What are you sayin'?" he hissed, trying not to draw attention to himself or Diamond.  
  
She took a deep breath. "Ev'ry day, I've been having a harder time sellin' my papes. I still got fourteen left. Jack... maybe I'm gettin' too old for this. Maybe I shouldn't be a newsie no more."  
  
"No... no! That ain't true!" Jack was still quiet, which was only an indicator that he was very angry. He looked Diamond directly in the eye. "Diamond... you ain't too old! I'm a year older 'n you, an' I'm still doin' it!"  
  
"Yeah, but you're dif'rent," she protested, pleading with her eyes for him not to cause a scene. "I'm a girl, Jack. Believe it or not, folks treat a girl newsie dif'rent from all the rest. I learned that today. It never happened before, 'cause I always sold with you, but now--"  
  
"Then we'll always sell together," he reasoned. "Then no one'll bother you no more."  
  
"Jack!" Her voice grew louder. "Don't you get it? I wanna be able to stand on my own two feet. I'm glad I have you an' everyone else to look out for me, I am! But I need to start learnin' how to fend for myself. An' bein' a newsgirl-- where ya don't get no respect unless you're with a group of boys-- ain't no place to learn it." Diamond didn't bother telling him about how she wanted to be loved in addition to everything else. He wouldn't have understood.  
  
"But... but Diamond-- you're my best friend," he said, looking and sounding extremely hurt. Diamond even noticed a tear coming to his eye. "Why are you doing this? I jus' don't understand."  
  
She avoided his painful glance. "It ain't like I'm gonna go back to Richmond, Jack," she insisted. "I'm gonna stay here in New York. Maybe get a new job an' a place to stay..."  
  
"But one day, you're gonna forget all about me-- all about us guys." His voice cracked with the approach of a tear.  
  
Now the surrounding newsies started to notice something strange was going on. They crowded around in a subtle manner, trying not to make it look like they were eavesdropping.  
  
Diamond closed her eyes tiredly. "C'mon, Jack. I jus' wanted to stop by here, say a quick 'g'bye,' an' go. I didn't think you were gonna debate the whole thing with me."  
  
"Yeah, well... I'm gonna!" His voice rose. "You can't jus' think that you can leave us forever an' not expect me to care!"  
  
"Jack... you're takin' this all wrong--"  
  
He glared at her. "No. I don't think so. You're leavin' us all of a sudden. How could I take that the wrong way?"  
  
"You are right now," she pointed out, irritated. "You're gettin' worked up over nothing!"  
  
"Bein' friends for over six years... that's nothing to you?"  
  
Diamond stood up. "Of course that means something, Jack. It's all I got... it means ev'rything. An' we can still be best friends, like always. I just need to go out on my own." She headed out the door. "I can't argue this no more, Jack. I gotta go back to the lodgin' house an' get my things together."  
  
Jack persistently followed her. "Diamond... I don't want ya to go," he pleaded. "I won't let no one make fun of ya no more, I swear!"  
  
She pulled him into a quick hug. "G'bye, Jack. I can't stay... I know that now. I don't really have what I really want here." She began to disappear out the door and into the bleak night.  
  
"What do you really want?" He stood outside the door.  
  
"I can't tell you," she answered, embarrassed and angry. "Why should it matter if I move a few blocks away, anyway?"  
  
"Because!" Jack yelled after her, like it was a good enough explanation. As she disappeared down the dark street and out of earshot, he softened his voice. "Because I love you, Diamond."  
  
ARGH! The suspense! The unadulterated suspense! But it's all good. I was expecting this. That's why I posted the next chapter already! Go on and check it out! 


	5. A Reason To Stay

"...and I'm afraid without any ado whatsoever" (from "A Knight's Tale"), here's part five!  
  
PART FIVE  
  
Jack walked wearily back inside Tibby's. He had done it. He'd actually said that he loved Diamond. Sure, no one was around to hear it, but it was important all the same. Those words came out of his mouth as though he wasn't even aware that he'd said them. Fortunately, though, none of the newsies noticed.  
  
"What was that all about?" Spot, previously secluded in the back of the room, stood up and approached Jack.  
  
Jack looked like he didn't want to talk about it, but he answered anyway: "Diamond jus' came in here, tellin' me that she didn't wanna be a newsie no more." He swallowed, turning to the rest of them. "She jus' went back to the lodging house to get her stuff."  
  
All of the newsies murmured, their voices tainted with concern.  
  
"Why'd she do it, Jack?" Crutchy pleaded. His usual, cheerful face was clouded over with a worried frown.  
  
Jack shrugged, frustrated. "I don't know!" he exclaimed. "She's gonna go find a new job an' a place to stay. She said something about how she was too old to be a newsie, an' she up and left."  
  
"And you let her?" asked Racetrack, incredulous. The poker game immediately stopped on account of the new situation.  
  
Blink looked down at his hands. "It ain't fair, Jack... Diamond can't leave. We all love 'er."   
  
"You think I don't know that?!" Jack exploded. He restrained himself. "I'm sorry, all right? I jus' don't know what I gotta do to get through to her."  
  
Spot placed his hand on Jack's back. "You oughta do yourself a favor an' go over there an' talk to her b'fore she leaves, Jacky-boy."  
  
Jack nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. I better go."  
  
He wordlessly walked out the door and into the night-darkened streets. As he walked briskly back toward Duane Street, Jack stopped and raised his eyes skyward. Amidst the clouded-over night sky, a single, flickering star peeked through. He sighed, and closed his eyes, remembering the poem Diamond had taught him when they were kids:  
  
"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight." He heaved a sigh. "Okay, I don't know how this works or who's hearin' me up there, but if someone's listenin'... I need to have my best friend with me again. I gotta know what to do to change her mind. She tol' me a while back to go with what my heart says, an' right now my heart's tellin' me not to let her go yet." He slowly opened his eyes. "I guess that's all."  
  
**************************************************************  
  
Diamond was hurriedly shoving her haphazardly strewn belongings into her ragged carpet bag back at the lodging house. As she packed, an ominous creak rippled across the empty room. Her head whipped up to the sudden sound. It came from the door leading up to the roof. Apparently, the early summer breeze knocked it open. Diamond looked at the freely swinging door longingly, then crossed the room to push it open all the way. It wouldn't hurt just to go up there one last time.  
  
The night was especially dark on the lonely rooftop then. Diamond hugged herself closer, bracing herself from the approaching gust of wind. Everything around her was dark. Even the moon wasn't out that night. The only source of light that existed was a tiny star. It flickered against's Diamond's glance. She paused, as a sudden conviction moved through her to make a wish. Just this once.  
  
She sighed, looking up at the star. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight." She squinted skeptically, feeling much like a little girl again. "I remember when I was up here for the first time," she said to herself. "I remember, 'cause Cowboy said that-- that Mama was up there listening to my wishes."   
  
Diamond felt the weight of Mama's diamond ring around her neck. She felt a tear come to her eye. "Mama?" she called in a young-sounding voice. "Mama, if you're really there-- or if someone is-- I don't know what I'm doing. Everything around me is tellin' me to go out and learn how to live on my own... but somehow I don't think I'm really ready. And I'm supposed to be; I know it. What would you want me to do? I wish I knew..." She wrinkled her forehead in frustration. "I don't know what I want! I guess my wish is... well, if you're really there-- if I'm really not supposed to go, I wish you'd send me a sign. Yeah," she said after a thoughtful pause. "That's it."  
  
Deep in the darkness, Diamond heard a voice from back inside the bunkroom:  
  
"Diamond?... Are you there?... Oh, no. Please don't be gone yet! Diamond, I gotta talk to you..."  
  
Her eyes widened. "I'm up here," she called numbly, surprised that Jack had followed her all the way to the lodging house.  
  
Jack climbed the stairs and found Diamond seated on a stack of large crates, her chin resting on her knees, like she used to do when she was a little girl. He sat next to her.  
  
"What're you doing here?" she asked him.  
  
He gave her a slight smile. "I live here too, y'know."  
  
"You know what I'm talkin' about," she said, still a little angry with him. "I told you: I gotta leave. You ain't gonna stop me, Cowboy."  
  
He smiled. At least she was calling him "Cowboy" again. "No... I ain't gonna stop you," he admitted. Then, after a pause, he added, "But I'm sure gonna try."  
  
"Cowboy!" she protested. "Why is it such a big deal to you if I move a few blocks away?"  
  
"Listen, Diamond, I'll level with you," he said with a sigh. "Of COURSE it ain't no big deal if you moved a few blocks away. The big deal is this." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Y'know, we've been best friends for a long time. We've done ev'rything together. It was bad enough havin' to go without seeing you for that year and-a-half that you were away. You shoulda seen me all that time. It was awful. But I knew you had to go. Your grandmother needed you."  
  
Diamond nodded silently as he continued:  
  
"But this... this, Diamond, I DON'T see why you gotta go. Even if it IS only a li'l ways away. It means that you ain't happy with us no more, Diamond... When you said all that stuff back at Tibby's, it made me think that you weren't happy with ME no more. I never wanted to make you feel like that. Honest, I didn't. An' you kept sayin' that you wanted something that you couldn't get here. What is it that you want?"  
  
She hesitated. "I don't know if I really wanna tell you, Cowboy. You'd probably think it was dumb."  
  
"What?" he protested. "For almost seven whole years, you an' me-- we've been able to talk about anything and ev'rything. What could it possibly be that you couldn't tell your best friend?"  
  
"Fine," she conceded, "I'll tell. But you gotta swear not to laugh."  
  
He crossed his heart. "I swear I ain't gonna laugh."  
  
She drew in a deep breath. "Today, when I was tryin' to sell my papes, I saw this couple at Central Park. They looked so happy an' in love an' everything. An' I kept thinkin' to myself, 'That's what I really want. I really wanna be loved... jus' like that.'" When Jack didn't say anything, she laughed at herself. "I told you it was dumb!"  
  
He shook his head vehemently. "It ain't dumb, Diamond."  
  
"Ain't it? I mean, look at me! I ain't got nobody that cares about me like that."  
  
"That ain't true."  
  
"Oh yeah? Then you tell me who does, Cowboy."  
  
She knew the answer before he even said it:  
  
"I do." Diamond remained astonished and quiet as Jack elaborated: "Y'know, all these years, I've been actin' like a big brother to ya. I've been all overprotective an' stuff, and sometimes I'd wonder why. But it took all this to make me realize it." He reached out and squeezed her hand gently. "I love you, Diamond. An' I guess I always will."  
  
Diamond's eyes widened. "I... I really don't know what I'm suppposed to say, Cowboy," she said quietly. "But-- wow. I never thought that you'd ever love someone like me."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because..." she answered. "I've seen you go after a lot of girls in the time I've known you. An' they ain't been nothin' like me. All of 'em have been real sweet an' pretty an' they all wore nice clothes--"  
  
"Don't you think that's why I like you?" he said softly, still hanging on to her hand. "You ain't like that. I think you're pretty without all the frills." He smiled. "An' you really don't gotta tell me you love me too. But I thought you should know anyway."  
  
Diamond paused to think. What WAS love, really? Love, she thought, was caring about someone that you didn't have to care about, but that you WANTED to care about. It meant thinking about someone first and foremost. It meant a warm feeling when you were with that someone, no matter what you two did together. Love, she thought, was a wonderful, wonderful thing.  
  
"Well, Cowboy," she said finally, "I'm gonna tell you anyway." She held his other hand tightly. "I thought about what love really means an' all. An' I know now that it can't get no better 'n my best friend right here." Diamond paused, taking a second to look right at him. "I love you, Jack Kelly."  
  
He grinned hopefully. "So you ain't gonna leave then?"  
  
She shook her head, smiling. "No... I ain't gonna leave."  
  
For a moment, there was a sweet sort of silence. Then, Jack released his hand from Diamond's grasp and placed it tenderly on her cheek, bringing her slowly closer. He placed his lips delicately against hers, putting his arms slowly around her. Diamond returned the kiss as she slid her arms around his neck. They pulled apart some time later. Diamond turned and leaned back against Jack, who still held her securely around her waist. She placed her hands on top of his.  
  
"That was my first kiss," she admitted.  
  
"Yeah; I know. Not bad for a beginner," he teased.  
  
She allowed herself to laugh. "So, what do we do now?"  
  
He rested his chin on her shoulder. "Well... I was thinkin' of askin' you if you wanted to be my girlfriend."  
  
"I think I'd like that, Cowboy," she answered wistfully.  
  
He tightened his hold around her. "Then, let's be together, you an' me." His breath tickled her ear.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Jack tenderly kissed Diamond's cheek, and the two of them sat contentedly on the rooftop for a long time afterwards. It was mostly silent, but it was okay. It wasn't an awkward silence, but rather a peaceful silence. Jack and Diamond didn't really need to say anything.  
  
At one point, the single star that both of them had wished on appeared again, winking at the pair from behind the clouds. Diamond caught the glisten of the little star and breathed a word of gratitude. Jack didn't really have to know about it. It was just her little secret.  
  
At the same time, Jack eyed the star as it made its journey across the sky. He winked at it and mouthed a "Thanks." He wasn't planning on bothering Diamond with the little wish he made. It was just his little secret.  
  
"What're you lookin' at up there?" Diamond asked him.  
  
"Oh. Nothin'. Jus' the sky."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
****THE END****  
  
"And now... the award for most God-awful cheesy ending goes to... BACKSTAGE!"  
  
Anyhow, hope you liked it! This, in my opinion, is a closed book, but I'll leave that to my faithful reviewers (THAT I CAN COUNT ON ONE HAND, MIND YOU!) to decide. Please review and tell me what you thought!  
  
Lots of Love,  
  
Backstage  
  
Please be a dear and visit my website!   
  
Backstage's Newsies Bunk  
  
http://www.geocities.com/backstagenewsie 


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